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Germany's 5G Buildout Fuels Anticipation and Controversy

5G is set to become a reality in Germany later this year, with the country’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) announcing plans to award spectrum for provisioning 5G services in the second half of the year. The move paves the way for German network operators and other companies to apply for spectrum in the 3.7-3.8 GHz band.

The spectrum awards will follow an auction for national 5G licenses set to start next week, with operators like Telefonica Deutschland, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and 1&1 Drillisch rumored to participate. Several German automakers and industrial companies have expressed interest in the spectrum the country’s regulatory agency plans to award.

Security is one of the most important and controversial elements of global 5G, and Germany published a list of additional security requirements for telecom networks and services in tandem with the spectrum announcement. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has said the country will not ban Chinese vendor Huawei’s equipment from Germany’s 5G networks, a controversial decision as the U.S, Australia and some U.K. network carriers have moved to ban the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks due to potential security risks.

“We revise the security requirements on a regular basis in light of the current security situation and technological developments,” said Jochen Homann, president of the BNetzA. “Security requirements apply to all network operators and service providers, irrespective of the technology they deploy. All networks, not just individual standards like 5G, are included.”

The U.S. government is far from pleased with Germany’s decision, and has threatened to cut back on intelligence sharing with the country if they allow Huawei equipment into their 5G networks. U.S. officials have not said whether they would issue similar warnings to other countries planning to work with Huawei, one of the largest telecom networking equipment vendors on the planet.

For its part, Huawei has insisted the company will not install backdoors in its 5G networking gear. But critics insist the company will be required to install them if the Chinese government requests it, based on two laws mandating that Chinese companies comply with state security efforts.

Germany’s new security mandates surrounding the 5G buildout aim to circumvent any perceived backdoors, with the country requiring that systems may only be sourced from trustworthy suppliers that comply with the country’s national security regulations and provisions for securing telecom and data. The mandates also state that network traffic must be regularly monitored for abnormalities, and that security-related network and system components may only be used after certification and testing by the Federal Office for Information Security.

Additional security measures include an acceptance test as well as regular ongoing tests for security-related network and system components along with the employment of only trained professionals in security-related areas. Equipment vendors will need to provide proof that hardware is tested for purported security-related components and source code. And adequate redundancy will be required for all critical, security-related network and system components.

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The idea of Web-scale IT is more than just another 'hot' buzzword or problematic disruption. What started with data center operators has become mainstream thinking in large enterprises, and it's now driving changes in service provider operations, as well. Web-scale tools that allow application development to move quickly have also created some challenges for service provider networks.